Na'ama Rietti

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Na'ama Rietti

Na’ama Rietti is an artist, sculptor, craftsperson and designer. Specialising in leather and knitwear she creates unique, exclusive, one-off and limited edition artwear and apparel and graduated from Kingston University in 2010.

Na’ama comes from a large family of creatives who have been greatly influential throughout her life. Born in Jerusalem Na’ama could say she had a pretty nomadic upbringing, spending much of her childhood travelling through faraway places before settling in the UK. Colours, materials and textures often relate to memories of her surroundings; wandering Mediterranean and Middle-Eastern countries with sandy deserts, softly coloured skies, stone floors, white buildings, rocky mountains and local handicrafts and artefacts.

She remembers the wild, the rough, the rugged and the sublime, marbled floors, white stone buildings, knotted string hammocks and hairy mountain goats with enormous horns. Exploring ideas through drawing, painting, sculpture, installation, film and photography, she often derives many ideas from ambiguous images resembling creatures or bodily forms, which seem to emerge from the imagery during the creative process. Beginning with the notion that anything is possible, she enjoys freedom in her work, exploring skills, interests and influences; often using complex and uniquely developed techniques to create beautiful, extraordinary and exotic objects of desire. With an interest in raw, natural and organic processes Na’ama’s aesthetic is somewhat primordial.

She uses experimental pattern cutting and development of unique hand-crafting skills often beginning with a concept or idea rooting from a particular view on the world, humanity and evolution through an aspect of my own identity or particular influence from emotional life experience. “It is exploring the root, the basic core of our being, of humanity ...the reason for war, for love, for peace and our existence which drives my creative interest. It is about the continuum of life and creation, of evolution and the inevitable of the human condition - the intervention of animalistic tendencies combined with our search for spiritual understanding.”

Nothing inspires me like…

The sudden and unexpected emergence of ambiguous imagery. Since I was young, I remember starring into curious shadows and patterned curtains, walls with old marks and paint scratches, textured stones and antique floorboards. I would reach for my pencil and quickly sketch into the empty space between the conscious and a blank canvas.

I hope… Because without hope what would I hope for?

Cultural Influences… Are shared and absorbed into the creative sphere, enforcing the development of new cultural movements - evolution and continuum.

I got where I am... And will continue with difficulty, enjoyment, determination, discovery, satisfaction, appreciation, and belief.

I dance like… I paint, I sculpt like I dance, I sew like I sketch ...it is the same internal rhythm.

My future is… Most fulfilling when I face my fears and live the present.

My earliest memory... When I was three my parents made authentic hand-crafted accessories from raw leathers and soft goat suede; one of my earliest memories was my dad drawing around my tiny foot and I eagerly awaited as they created my beloved pair of moccasins.

My mum... Influenced my values, beliefs and interest in the unconventional. Growing up surrounded by her chaotic assemblage of wonderful, bizarre and anonymous objects - hand-made furniture, cushions, rugs, fabrics ...she made us sock bags from our old T-shirts and sewed her jumpers into Harem pants. The décor was always somewhat unconventional ...I remember once having a door for a table, a curtain for a door and a cushion for a bed.

I like making... Beautiful things with my hands, for as long as I can remember.

I don't think...Sometimes I just do. But mostly I think, without being impulsive it can be difficult to break the thinking habit.

My goal…At the age of seven was to become an astronaut and fly to the moon. I so wanted to own a real space suit. I learned all the planets in the solar system but I never achieved that goal; though my interest in viewing the world from a wider perspective is still a driving force.

Love is… The ultimate goal. And I would still love to fly to the moon.